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To simplify all the cabling and get rid of my giant space hogging AVR, I’m contemplating switching from my existing discreet 5.1.2 system to a Sonos Arc, Sub Gen 3, and a two Era 300 setup.  But my living room is long and shallow so I don't have room behind the sofa to mount the era 300’s (the sofa is against the wall).  My current surround speakers are on stands facing the sofa from each side and the AVR knows that position and accommodates accordingly.

My question is when you set up Era 300’s as surrounds does the Sonos software know where they are in relation to the listener?  or maybe this is handled using Trueplay and the built in Mics? Would angling them at 45 degrees on their stands about 1.5 feet off the rear walls 3 feet or so on either side of the sofa work.

  1. No, the Sonos doesn’t ‘know’ where the speakers are placed, it assumes they are set in the normal ‘behind the listener’ setup.
  2. TruePlay can sometimes help this.
  3. You can try this, and see how it sounds to your ears. 
  4. There are no ‘side’ speakers in a Sonos home theater room, only the normal surrounds, which normally are placed behind, to provide actual ‘surround’ experiences. 

@Airgetlam After I posted this I found Peter Pee’s deep dive into era 300 placement on YouTube.  He says the side drivers function like a bipole surrounds and that angling the 300’s inward towards the listener lets the sounds bounce off side and back walls more better.  This effectively creates a 7.1.4 system combined with the Arc and a Sub Gen 3.  Ideally he recommends about 3-5 feet off to either side and about two feet behind but I bet just having them angled inward 5 feet on either side of the listing position would still work nicely.  Im going to give it s try.  I actually have a sub get 3 and two eras I could use to test it out.  I can just buy the arc and if it's not working nicely I can return it.

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